Damascus Township EMS faces 14% spike in emergency calls as volunteer ranks thin and federal Medicaid cuts loom
DAMASCUS, WAYNE COUNTY — When you dial 911 in Damascus Township, the people racing to save your life aren’t getting paid to do it.
They’re your neighbors. They left dinner on the table. They pulled over on Route 371. They got out of bed at 3 a.m.
And there aren’t enough of them.
The Damascus Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps has seen emergency calls jump 14 percent this year — from 331 in 2024 to 382 so far in 2025 — while simultaneously watching its volunteer base shrink and age out. The average volunteer is now in their 40s or 50s. Almost nobody under 25 is signing up.
“We don’t have a lot of 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds volunteering,” said Mike Bruce, a volunteer EMT with Damascus EMS. “We don’t know where we’re gonna be in two to three years. If we can get through the year with still money in our bank and people to ride in the seat, we’re gonna say, that’s a good year.”
The NYC and Philly Exodus Made It Worse
The corps covers more than 130 square miles across Damascus, Manchester, Lebanon, and Buckingham townships — a sprawling rural territory that’s seen an influx of new residents fleeing Philadelphia and New York City since the pandemic.
These transplants moved north expecting the healthcare access they had in urban areas. What they found instead was a volunteer ambulance service running on fumes.
“We have a lot of new residents that moved out of the urban areas and moved north,” Bruce said. Many came from places with robust emergency medical infrastructure — paid paramedics, multiple hospitals within minutes, urgent care on every corner.
Wayne County has none of that.
Damascus EMS operates two ambulances out of its station on Cochecton Turnpike in Tyler Hill. The corps provides basic life support — stabilization and rapid transport to major medical facilities. They also respond to mutual aid calls across Wayne County and into Sullivan County, New York, backing up Northern Wayne, Pleasant Mount, Honesdale, White Mills, and Cottage Hose ambulance companies when those crews need help.
“It’s basic life support,” said John Tucci, president of the Damascus Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps. “We are here to expeditiously get you to major medical care.”
The Money Problem
Even if volunteers showed up tomorrow, money is running out.
Damascus EMS survives on a patchwork of funding: insurance billing, donations, tax revenue, and grants. But insurance reimbursements cover only about half of what ambulance services actually bill, Bruce said. Medicare and Medicaid rates haven’t kept pace with inflation for years.
EMT training alone costs between $500 and $2,000 in Pennsylvania. A single new ambulance runs $200,000 to $300,000. Then there’s fuel, equipment, maintenance, insurance.
“A volunteer organization is not gonna have the wherewithal of a commercial entity like Penn Med or Cottage Ambulance,” Tucci said.
Federal Cuts Could Kill Rural EMS
The financial picture is about to get worse.
In July, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which slashes nearly $800 billion from Medicaid over the next decade. Governor Josh Shapiro held a press conference at Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale specifically to warn about what those cuts would do to rural Wayne County.
More than 737,000 Medicaid recipients live in rural Pennsylvania counties. These residents tend to be older and more dependent on government-funded insurance. Rural hospitals already lose an average of 26 cents on every dollar of Medicaid care they provide.
The state estimates more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians will lose Medicaid coverage entirely. When those people get sick, they won’t see a doctor — they’ll wait until it’s an emergency and call 911.
“When people do not have health insurance, they are forced to forego preventive care and rely on emergency care,” said Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health, at the Wayne Memorial event. “This leads not only to worse health outcomes, but also increases uncompensated health care services.”
For volunteer ambulance corps like Damascus EMS — already stretched beyond capacity and barely breaking even — a flood of uninsured patients could be fatal.
What Happens When Nobody Answers?
Damascus Township’s website includes a blunt warning to residents: “WHEN YOU DIAL 9-1-1, THE PEOPLE THAT COME TO HELP YOU ARE VOLUNTEERS — YOUR NEIGHBORS. WE NEED NEW VOLUNTEERS TO KEEP THESE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.”
Then, in all caps: “CONSIDER THIS — WHAT IF YOU CALLED FOR HELP AND NO ONE CAME?”
It’s not hypothetical. Across Pennsylvania, volunteer ambulance companies have shuttered in recent years. Dalton and Factoryville ambulance services in nearby Wyoming County both ceased operations in 2024, citing financial problems and lack of staffing.
A December 2025 feasibility study commissioned by Wyoming County found that staffing is “the single biggest problem in EMS.” The average starting salary for an EMT in Pennsylvania is $32,489 — forcing many to work multiple jobs to survive.
In the 1970s, Pennsylvania had roughly 300,000 volunteer firefighters and EMS workers. Today, that number is below 50,000.
How to Help
Damascus EMS is actively recruiting volunteers. Training is provided at no cost. The corps meets on the second Monday of each month at the ambulance building, 1290 Cochecton Turnpike, Tyler Hill.
For those who can’t volunteer but want to help: Damascus EMS accepts donations at P.O. Box 63, Damascus, PA 18415, or through their website at damascusems.org.
Annual subscriptions are also available. Subscribers receive a direct mail letter each year.
For emergencies, dial 911. The Wayne County Communications Center can be reached at 570-253-3109.
Damascus Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps Inc. is licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (License #05051) and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.